Lindsay Armaou was a part of one of the biggest nineties as B*Witched enjoyed a sting of huge hits here in the UK and around the world.
The band reunited earlier this year for ITV2’s new show The Big Reunion - they are now working on some new material.
We caught up with Lindsay to chat about the show, life in B*Witched and what it has been like reuniting with the rest of the girls.
- We saw you reunite with B*Witched earlier this year for The Big Reunion on ITV2 so what made you want to get involved in the show?
Over the years, I have always had this feeling it would be nice for us to do something together again as a band. However, it was never the right time or the right opportunity.
But then ITV2 approached us, and I just had the feeling that we should do this because if we didn’t it might have been something that we would regret. It was a great opportunity, and it sounded like a lot of fun and a good chance for us to get back together. I just felt that it was something that we should do.
- B*Witched has huge success in the nineties but split back in 2002, so how did you find reuniting with the girls?
It was a bumpy start (laughs), as I am sure that you saw on the documentary. We were a band ten years ago, and we are all very different now, so coming together and trying to form a unit again there were always going to be things that needed to be ironed out and discussed.
Back then we were very young, and we dealt with things differently to how we would deal with them now. It was just a case of being open and discussing certain things; some of those things were uncomfortable, but once they were out in the open it was gone and forgotten, and we could just concentrate on being a band and being friends.
As soon as we got into rehearsals it all clicked and fitted into place very very quickly, it felt very natural. It was strange as it felt that we had never stopped doing it - it really was the most bizarre thing.
- As I said you enjoyed hug success as a band, so how would you sum up that period when you look back on it now? It must just have been a whirlwind?
It was; I think that is the best way to describe it. You get caught up in the bubble of being in a pop group as it was full on and intense, and it consumed our whole lives; we had no lives outside the band, and we hardly ever got to see family and friends.
We were constantly travelling, living out of suitcases, doing promotion and gigs; basically, the record company packed our diaries up from early morning to late at night. At the same time, we had the time of our lives, and it was an amazing and life-changing experience.
I am really proud that we achieved what we did; we sold over ten million records, had four UK number ones, and we broke the States - which is very very rare. We toured over there five or six times; our biggest market was in the States actually.
We had fun and we got to see the world, and we were friends doing what we loved to do. It was hard at times and there was a lot that went along with it and a lot of sacrifices that were made, but it was a great experience.
- The Reunion culminated in this big show at London’s Hammersmith Apollo and the demand for tickets for that show was huge. So were you surprised at just how keen everyone was to see yourselves and the rest of the bands back on stage again?
Pleasantly surprised, yeah. I always knew that it would be a successful venture because there were six bands that had success in the nineties. I knew that it would do well, but I guess I didn’t imagine to what degree.
When Hammersmith sold out in half an hour it was a shock, and it was like ‘ok, people really are interested and they want to re-live their youth’. It really is all about nostalgia; it is for us, and it is from the people who come and watch the shows.
I think that the nineties was such a good era for pop music, and things have changed in music so much. People just associate music a lot with their lives; music is a soundtrack to your life, and it brings back certain memories.
People who come along to the shows just want to have fun and re-live their youth. When we went on tour, the vibe was just amazing, and everyone was just having a great time.
- As you said earlier you were very keen on being involved in the show so what your overall experience in the programme when you look back on it now?
I was keen on be part of it, but I also knew that it was going to be a challenge. I found the documentary side of it quite difficult as there is a certain amount of pressure to talk about certain things; I am naturally quite a private person, and so I knew that it was going to be a challenge.
However, I was prepared to do that with the band, and because we were reuniting and so it made sense to talk openly and do all of that. What I found difficult, I guess, was the attention into my private life, and I did find that difficult.
Back then, when we were a band first time around, there was no such thing as reality TV - definitely not in the sense that it is nowadays - so that side of it was very new to me.
To have cameras following you around and asking you how you feel every ten minutes was very new to me and that was a challenge. As soon as we got into the rehearsal room, and it suddenly became about performing again that was when I started to relax and really start to enjoy it.
- There is a seven-day Christmas tour coming up so how excited are you to get back out on the road with all the bands, but with B*Witched in particular?
I am so excited about going on tour in December; we had such an amazing time on tour in May. To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive before going on tour in May as I just thought ‘gosh, there are going to be seven bands on one bus’ it is just a recipe for disaster isn’t it?
But actually, everyone got on really well and everyone was really civilised; we had a laugh and we all bonded really well. The concerts themselves were amazing as the audiences were just fantastic. So I am really looking forward to this December one and getting back on the road with all the bands - especially the B*Witched girls.
It was just really nice spending that quality time together; which is what you get to do when you are on tour as you are on the bus together.
With things like promo you turn up at a photoshoot and then you go home and you don’t get that down time to hang out; on tour, you do. You get that chance to just chat into the wee hours of the morning and all that kind of stuff.
- And are there any plans for B*Witched to start recording some new material after the success of the show?
We have been doing a bit of writing at the moment, and we have recorded one song; it is up on YouTube actually, and it is called Love And Money. We have been performing that at the gigs that we have been doing more recently as we have been performing some festivals over the summer.
It has been going down really well; in fact, sometimes it has been going down the best out of all the songs. So, yes is the answer (laughs).
- How are you finding the writing experience this time around as you are ten years older, and you are more experienced?
It is good. We are all songwriters, and we have kept that up over the years individually; I have done other bits and pieces of music in between and so have the other girls. It feels quite natural to come and to write together again. So it has been really good fun.
- That does lead into my next question. When the band split you went on to work on your own solo material, and you went into a folk band. So how did you find the transition away from B*Witched?
To be honest, at the end of the band I was so exhausted that the first thing that I wanted to do was take time off and find my feet again. But very quickly I decided that I wanted to try something by myself. So I bought a studio and I learnt how to use everything and how to produce. Then I started writing and producing my own stuff.
I got a band around me, and I got another producer involved and tried to do some solo stuff. Then I got a development deal; however, the MD that gave me that deal moved to a different country, and it just didn’t work out.
I got into this folk band called Clayton; the music that we were doing, even to this day, I absolutely adore. So I did that for a couple of years as we gigged around London and recorded an album. Those two things were not on the scale of B*Witched, but they were still very fulfilling for me; possibly even more so in some creative ways.
Funnily enough, since The Big Reunion aired the Clayton album when to number six in the UK Country Music Chart, that was completely unexpected and a very welcome surprise. I am glad that it got to see the light of day, and people seemed to like it.
- You also trained to be an actor in recent years, so what drew you into that arena?
It was around the time that the music industry was changing quite a lot, and it was more geared towards the X-Factor and those types of shows. I just felt that there wasn’t much room in the music scene for anything else but that, at the time.
I just felt like I wanted to try something different, and I wanted to move into something that wasn’t necessarily music; even though music is my first passion and will always be there, I just wanted to try something else.
I went for a weekend course at this school in London - it was just to get a taste for acting - but the guy who ran the school offered me a place on the full time two-year course after that weekend.
I thought about it, and I took it. I trained there for a couple of years, and I graduated two years ago. I got an agent, and I have just been doing bits and pieces of acting ever since. I absolutely love it as it is another thing that really fulfils me.
- Are we going to be seeing you taking on more acting roles moving forward?
Yes, hopefully. I would love to be able to do that. Long term that is what I can see myself doing more and more of. I just really enjoy it, and it is still a fresh challenge for me.
Music will always be there and will always be writing songs, but I think I have found something new that I really feel passionately about.
- Finally, what is next for you as we go through the rest of this year?
Well, I am moving house at the moment so I am really stressed out about that - hopefully I am hiding that well (laughs). So I will be settling in this autumn. Then we have rehearsals for the tour coming up in December. I have got an audition next week, so you never know.